I missed a good dystopian story and this book definitely kept me hooked
Snowglobe is settled 200 years in the future, the world is frozen (thanks to climate change) a city called Snowglobe exists under a perfect dome where the weather is controlled and everything and everyone seems to be … perfect

Outside Snowglobe life isn’t so perfect and the people power it just wish to have enough food and warmth to stay alive
That’s why our protagonist dreams of becoming a director when she suddenly has the best opportunity ever

It’s a fun read and an interesting story different from other read, worth your time

Lots of fun, with Hunger Games and Snowpiercer vibes. Chobahm dreams of working as a director in Snowglobe, the only place left in the frozen world with warmth and luxury. When she is given the opportunity to replace a beloved character on a popular show, Chobahm learns the darkness hidden behind the bright lights.

Snowglobe was one that started off strong. I was draw to this fascinating dystopian world. The strength of the novel did feel like it waned as it progressed which left me a little disappointed as I finished it.

I'd like to give props to the translator, Joungmin Lee Comfort. This read so smooth. It was easy to understand, there weren't any moments that I felt something had possibly gotten lost in translation or anything. Truly excellent translating.

Chobahm was a little infuriating at times. Lovely character who really has a warm haeart and just wants to chase her dreams and live a better life–the later of which I think caused her to get into the troubles that she did. Throughout this and everything that was going on, she never once stopped to really think about the effects until it was she was forced too. While I could recognize the situation she was put it, it didn't make it any less frustrating to read.

Where I think the book struggled is the climax. It fell so flat for me. It came in little snippets that felt like I was only getting part of the story. This took a lot of the steam that was building out of the story instead I was just confused and grasping at straws to really try and get an idea of what was going on. It was like the author couldn't decide how to wrap up this up and give it a satisfactory ending.

It really ended to set up the next book which I can't decide if it's going to continue with this timeline or be a prequel. Either way, I'm curious enough about it that I'll look into it and see what Park does with it.

Overall, I had a good time. The climax and ending faltered, but the set up for the next book left me curious enough to see what happens. If you miss YA dystopian novels, go ahead and give this a try as the concept is interesting enough and Chobahm is certainly not the perfect, special heroine.

In a world of constant winter, only the citizens of the climate-controlled city of Snowglobe can escape the bitter cold—but this perfect society is hiding dark and dangerous secrets within its frozen heart. A groundbreaking Korean novel translated into English for the first time!

I absolutely loved this book. It was so remarkably detailed and I felt as though I was immediately immersed in this world. The main character Goh Chobahm is faced with so much throught the book she truly finds her authentic self by the end. And in a world of so much false reality she learns who she wants to be. The finale of the book is a great set-up for book two and I cannot wait!

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhousekids for allowing me to read and review this book!

This excellent translation from the Korean of Soyoung Park's book will captivate young adults. Set in a dystopian world of climatic disaster, the world is frozen. Electrical power comes from people toiling in giant hamster-type wheels.

Entertainment is television, streamed from the Snowglobe. The Snowglobe and its encapsulated inhabitants have warm temperatures. The weather in Snowglobe is of constant interest to all and Haeri Goh (star of her own show, Goh Around) is replacing well-loved but ill Fran as weather person. All of the people inside the Snowglobe are actors and everyone outside the Snowglobe is fascinated with their stories. Directors are famous and Chobahm's deepest with is to be a director. Every year, auditions are held for people to become actors and move into Snowglobe. Every year Chobahm and her twin brother Ongi try out. But neither is accepted. One day, Chobahm receives a visitor who makes her an incredible offer. Chobahm has often been told she looks like famous actress Haeri Goh. She is told Haeri has died and she, because of her looks, has been chosen to replace her, with the promise of becoming a director someday.

Thrilled to be moving to Snowglobe and happy that her family will also receive some perks in their frozen town, Chobahm goes along with it. But Snowglobe is not what she expected. Everywhere she turns she finds the town and its people to be nothing like they've been pictured on the screen all these years. Chobahm is not at all prepared for the danger, threats and trickery she encounters. Especially when she meets another woman who looks like Haeri, and herself. Chobahm ends up fearing for her life. The book's ending sets up perfectly for the sequel, due out next year.

Recommended for young adults everywhere and for high school libraries.

Note: I read the ARC courtesy of NetGalley and PRH.

Such an interesting premise that started promising, but went off the rails about 50% of the way into the story.

It seemed in the last quarter or the story, details were being added and the character, and we as the readers were just supposed to accept them as fact and keep moving. It was almost like a whiplash plot point to an anti-climatic end.

The epilogues chapters had such interesting plot points that make me want to pick up the next book, so I think I will hold out hope for finishing this duology when the next book is released in Spring 2025.

3.5⭐

This story was marketed as Hunger Games meets Squid Game, so I was expecting more of the action that those two brought. This is more the socioeconomic status of those two shows/books, where we have people living inside the Snowglobe (think "the Capitol") and those living outside (think the poor districts or the less wealthy who joined Squid Games to earn money for a chance at a better life).

Our main character, Chobahm, is invited into the Snowglobe after a tragic "accident" happens with of of the famous elite...but soon, she finds out that living inside the Snowglobe is not all that it's cracked up to be.

Thank you to NetGalley, Soyoung Park, and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I am looking forward to see what's next in the duology in spring 2025!

Per the summary info, Snowglobe is pitched as The Hunger Games meets the Squid Games. Being a big fan of dystopian and The Hunger Games, I wanted to check this book out. Overall, the plot was entertaining, I thought. The characters were nothing special/nothing wrong and it was a good read with lots of twists and turns. Was it my favorite book? No. But it was a decent read overall.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own. WOW! When I saw this book described as Squid Games, and hunger games, plus kdrama added in, I had to have it! This was so good! I haven't seen anything like this in a minute. I fully can't wait for more!

I found that I didn't enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. I tend to gravitate towards stories about dystopian futures that are a bit grittier and dark, and I am sure outside of Snowglobe that would be the case. Most of this story took place inside Snowglobe, a city that provides reality tv entertainment for the masses who toil away outside the city providing power for everyone. One, I'm not a fan of reality tv and secondly, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, this is definitely targeted to the Young Adult reader. I was really more interested in finding out how this world came to be more than the pop culture drama that was being played inside of it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. Review based on final copy. All opinions are my own.
My interest was piqued by Snowglobe, and even more so because it was a translated book by a Korean author. While I’m not super familiar with some of the comps, like Squid Game, beyond the basic premise, I’m still interested in books that put interesting spins on the dystopian subgenre, and this absolutely does.
I was immediately drawn into the world building and power structures present in the narrative. Set a few hundred years in the future, in a time where the Earth has frozen over, the Snowglobe is the only part of the world insulated from it. There are people working on the outside to power the city, while there’s a reality-show-esque broadcast of inside Snowglobe 24/7. One of the opening pages even features a cast and crew page for Snowglobe, highlighting the heavily manufactured nature of it all.
Chobahm starts off the book as being one of the masses working to power Snowglobe on the outside, living with the dream of possibly becoming one of them one day, in a similar, if grim, parallel, to how we idolize movie stars in their gilded cages. Then, when Haeri dies, and her “character” is viewed as non-expendable, Chobahm is asked to replace her. While this is what she’s always wanted, it’s not entirely what she expected.
/The narrative has a lot of twists and turns, with reveals that serve to interrogate this structured world of the haves and have-nots in the hands of the corrupt Yibbon Corporation. It’s fairly fast-paced, keeping my attention throughout.
This was a solid read, and I’m open to reading more from Soyoung Park in the future, especially as there is a sequel forthcoming. I’d recommend this book if you’re interested a dystopian story set outside the US and the West.

I really enjoyed this book! It was unlike anything I've read in a long time, so I appreciated it a lot. I wasn't expecting most of the twists and turns and I'm looking forward to more set in this world. It was intense and I think teens will really like it. Thank you!

This dystopian set in a subzero world examines the effects of living in the spotlight and having your real life be a spectacle for views. Basically, the world is run by the entertainment industry because watching reality TV set in a small warm area of the world is the only outlet those stuck out in the frozen world have. Of course, corruption abounds, and the main character discovers that the secrets lurking in the Snowglobe go deeper than she ever could have imagined. The book shows how living a "real" life under a microscope can be nearly impossible. This topic seems especially relatable because of the rise of social media. This book will appeal to YA readers who love action and intrigue!

I love a good dystopian read as it’s one of my favorite genres. Snowglobe definitely checked all the boxes for me!

In a future frozen world due to climate change, a city called Snowglobe exists under a dome where the weather is always perfect, and the inhabitants have everything.

Outside in the frozen world, the people are the ones who power Snowglobe by riding stationary bikes as they do everything they can to be warm enough and have enough food to survive. Their entertainment is made up of 24/7 reality TV of the inhabitants of the domed city.

To be chosen as a Snowglobe inhabitant and to be affiliated with one of the reality shows either as an actor or as a director is everything and all they strive for.

I had so much fun reading this translated Korean book. It’s reminiscent of Squid Game with how bonkers it can get inside Snowglobe.

*Thanks to Delacorte Press and to NetGalley for the gifted eARC. I did end up buying a hardcopy because it’s such a beautiful book!*

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for granting me an ARC of this book. My following review is my OWN honest opinion on this selection.*
The Cover: Very eye-catching. I love the color choice and the image of the cracking ice.

This book is set in a world that is in constant winter conditions, think -50 all the time, with the exception of the capital city of Snowglobe. The city is climate controlled and provides the main source of entertainment & news for the whole world. To be in Snowglobe you had to either be born there or chosen to be an actor or a director. Most of the citizens star on shows that aired over TV to all the outlying territories. It takes reality TV to a whole different level.

Chobahm has spent her whole life dreaming of being a director in Snowglobe. She spends her days living with her twin brother, mother, and grandmother and working in the power plant that helps produce the electric that runs to Snowglobe.
Her favorite show, Goh Around, stars a girl the same age as her called Goh Haeri and the similarity in their appearance has always made Chobahm secretly think they MUST be related. In a turn of events, Haeri has been found dead and her director has shown up at Chobahm's job to offer the chance of a lifetime. All she has to do is pretend to be Haeri and at the end of the year she can be "written" of the show and Chobahm can go back to being herself and enroll as a director. Life in Snowglobe so different from what it has been portrayed as and very quickly Chobahm realizes she is in way over her head. She has to figure out what to do to expose the sinister truth and also to free herself and her new found friends/partners from a life of devastation.

I really enjoyed this book and actually can't wait to read the 2nd part!

There were a lot of elements to this that I did enjoy. But overall the plot felt shaky, with lots of holes and inconsistencies. Some things just didn't make sense. My suspension of logic and disbelief had to stretch just a little too far. I thought there was some commentary that could have been made on society's elites, addiction to TV/media, the use of said media as distraction from very real issues in life, and abuse of power, etc. that were never made. Maybe we're just supposed to infer those, or maybe they'll be addressed in book two? I was also ultimately disappointed by the anti-climactic ending. To be fair, I did not know there was a sequel, so I was expecting things to wrap up more thoroughly. Still, I'm not super eager to pick up the next one. But I may if it seems interesting when it comes out.

Snowglobe, a Korean import YA Dystopian, was a cover read, with the symbolic ice cracking as well as the roses, and who can say no to teal and pink?

In a few words, imagine The Truman Show and apply it to an entire city, not just one person. And it's in only place in the world where it's not freezing cold, much like the setting of Snowpiercer. In essence, you get a world where everyone uses TV as their main window for hope in a post-apocalyptic world, and many doing whatever they can to get into that world and survive. Add a dash of Korean Drama like storytelling, and this is a story I'm sure many Young Adult Sci-Fi and Dystopian fans will latch onto as much as I did. Though I will disagree with The Hunger Games and Squid Games comps; those two are more battles royales and only have loose comparisons to this book.

I enjoyed the world building for the most part. The world is frozen and towns are being powered by workers walking in hamster wheels for hours a day. Snowglobe, where the shows are filmed, is the only non-freezing city on earth. The city itself felt vivid and futuristic, being this 24/7 Hollywood set where almost everything is broadcast for the wider world. As we continue, we see that it's not the dream everyone envisioned. Some things about the world aren't fully explained, mainly in Snowglobe itself, but something tells me it's being saved for book 2. I liked the details and theming of TV being a source of hope, and what it means to be yourself.

Chobahm is a big fan of the Goh Around TV show, starting Harei, who's she looks very close to physically. She finds her world upside down when she's pinned as Harei's replacement. I love how Chobahm has to think through things as she's going through the inner world and figuring out that Snowglobe isn't exactly the dream world she might have imagined. She has some interesting character development as she goes through the story. The other characters are interesting, but I wish some of them were fleshed out a bit more, especially poor Miyru.

The prose mostly reads clean and the pacing was pretty good with somewhat shorter chapters and great cliffhangers to keep me reading. Some of the twists I knew pretty fast, but it didn't deter me from enjoying this read. Though I did think some of the twists were a bit over the top, and I presume some of that might be the K-Drama factor. While the story structure is a little bit different than me, an American reader, is used to, it was page turning, and that's what counts. Some things are left unanswered, but I'm assuming that's also book 2 stuff.

Side note about the translation/localization; While it does retain the Korean naming order (family name goes first) and reads cleanly, I really dislike when American publishers localize things to fit American standards that feel out of place. For example, raising the drinking age from whatever the age is in the country of origin (Korea drinking age is 19) to 21, or using imperial units, when everyone else uses metric, or referencing SWAT, an American invention, for a story that's likely set in a futuristic Korea. Compared to say, anime localizers, mainstream American publishing is at least a decade behind. Overall, this is mostly nitpicking on my part.

I'm so glad that the second half of the story has already been confirmed to be translated and coming to English readers sooner rather than later.

There is a lot to like in this book. It is a solidly built dystopian world. The book is also a well paced easy read that will draw in even reluctant readers. It is also the first of a two book series, so it will bring readers back for book 2. Is it perfect? Not quite. I think the ending felt a tiny bit rushed and was a bit too abrupt. However, I can see young adult readers flocking to this book. It is going to be a bestseller!

Snowglobe has a gorgeous cover and a super interesting premise, but unfortunatley, fell flat for me. I had a hard time becoming invested in the story or the characters. I found myself confused throughout portions of the book, and now having finished, remain very confused about certain plot lines. I am so interested if any of my above complaints can be attributed to this book being translated. I'm not sure! This book was, at times, a wild ride, and since books hit everyone differently, this might be a big win for other YA dystopian fans!

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for an eARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Snowglobe is a dystopian YA story where the "Haves" live in Snowglobe- a climate controlled city where their luxurious and comfortable lives are recorded for what is essentially reality tv, which is then broadcast 24/7 all over and watching this is a huge part of the culture and loved by the "have nots" who work and live in the freezing, poor dystopian land and dream about someday going to snowglobe. The main character gets a chance at her dream job within snowglobe, only it doesn't turn out to be her dream job after all. I thought the world and overall premise and twists at the end were interesting. Overall I thought it was a little anticlimactic but would be curious to read the sequel to see where it goes. A few of the decisions made by some of the characters seemed a bit unbelievable, but overall I had a good time with it and would check out the sequel. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.